Waking Life
by Fox with a Ruby Red Glow
Summary: What if what Timmy thought was real wasn't, but what was real was pretty great anyway. Timmy deserves a good life, don't you think?
1. Escape to Reality

Escape to Reality

Disclaimer: I don't own the Fairly Odd Parents or anything related; I'm just writing this because my job gives me a lot of spare time and nothing to fill it with.

The sun rose bright and high over Dimmsdale, California, bathing the happy burg in its golden light. Out in the suburbs, in a second floor bedroom of a non-descript house, the light filtered through indigo curtains and onto the picture of innocence; 10 year old Timmy Turner, asleep in his bed. As the bright glow slowly crept onto his face, glinting off his buck teeth, cerulean eyes shot open and a goofy grin crossed his childish features.

"Wanda! Cosmo! It's Saturday!"

Inside the fishbowl on his bedside table, the pair of goldfish glanced at one another and grinned before shooting up into the air and, with a poof, becoming a pair of child sized adults with small gossamer wings, tiny crowns floating over their heads, star-capped wands in hand and a pink and green colour scheme. They had awakened a short while ago and had waited for their assigned godson to awaken with bated breath. Wanda floated down to Timmy's level and grinned wide, a wave of her wand clothing him instantly, the motion causing her pink swirl of hair to bob rapidly.

"Right you are, Timmy! What do you want to do first? Cruise the horsehead nebula in a pizza powered spaceship?"

"Take a dip in a swimming pool full of banana pudding?" this came from Wanda's husband and comic foil, Cosmo, who carried the green colour scheme. The young boy's only response was a continuation of his dopey grin as he dug into the hot breakfast quickly poofed up by his beloved godparents.

By the time the evening rolled around, Timmy was exhausted by his daily adventures, but still wearing his wide smile.

"Today was great, you two. Who knew that Westphallian sand dragons were ticklish. Come on, we've still got time for some goofing off before it's time for bed. I wish I had an Xtra large TV and some DVDs." His fairies raised their wands when suddenly, the world around them drained of colour. The room was in black and white while the view from the window was a white void, while Timmy, Wanda and Cosmo were still in colour. A steady, rhythmic beeping could be heard from all around. The bucktoothed lad's head shot around and his eyes were wide with panic. "Guys, what's going on?!"

The fairies simply floated in place, looking at one another with small, sad half-smiles. Their silent exchange lasted only a matter of moments, but it seemed that a lot passed between them in that time. They turned to him as one and Wanda was the first to speak.

"Well, Timmy, I guess this is it. It's time to say goodbye."

"What?! I haven't broken da rules, noone's found out about you and I'm still a kid. You're supposed to be with me until I do something to lose you or I grow up."

"We're sorry sport, but things have been this way long enough. It's time it ended." Cosmo replied simply. Timmy was vaguely aware of the blurring of his vision caused by tears welling up and he stepped forward, stumbling and falling to his knees. He began to cry openly.

"But why?! You still haven't told me why! I love you guys too much to let you go." The millennia old magical beings floated down low enough that they were actually standing on the ground and embraced the crying child.

"We love you too Timmy, but you can't stay here any more. It's time for you to wake up." His vision cleared a little and he looked at her in confusion.

"Wake up? What do you mean?" his words echoed hollowly in the drab room. Before his eyes, the room began to fade, until all that remained was the white void glimpsed out the window. The beeping became louder as the whiteness seemed to grow brighter, until he was having a hard time seeing Cosmo and Wanda.

"Good bye, Timmy." "Have a good life." Their voices echoed around him and were the last thing he heard before his vision was entirely filled with white.

It took some time before his vision cleared again and the all-consuming whiteness began to dull to a clean off-white. Eventually he was able to make out a pattern in the colour and from there it didn't take long to realize it was ceiling tiles, and this revelation brought him to the fact that he was on his back in a strange bed. He looked around; the walls were a soft cream colour and his sheets were snow white. The beeping now came from his right instead of all around him and when he looked he was mildly surprised to find a monitor keeping time to the light lub-dub of his small heart. The air smelled almost too clean and he shortly realized he was in a hospital. He opened his mouth to call for his godparents, or his parents, anyone who could tell him what was going on. All that came out was a cough and the realization that his throat was sore. A moment later, a sturdy, redheaded woman in scrubs pushed open the white door and smiled when she saw him.

"So, you're awake. Your parents will be happy to hear that. You've been out for quite some time. Welcome back to the waking world, Timmy."


	2. Reintroduction

Reintroduction

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here. I'm not making any money from this. I am destitute, so suing me will do no good for anyone.

Timmy simply sat in a daze for a while before opening his mouth and releasing a small croaking sound. The nurse smiled and collected a cup from his bedside table, filling it with cool water from the sink in his attached bathroom and handing it to him to sooth his dry throat. He nodded in thanks and sipped the pure liquid. He coughed again then spoke.

"What do you mean awake? What's going on? Last thing I remember I was in my bedroom with my-ii mean with…win…winning at a game on my V-Cube." His words caused the woman to cross her arms and gnaw on her lower lip. She sighed and danced around the questions.

"You just relax, watch some TV," here she gestured to small television set facing his bed and the remote on his table. "I'll go call your parents, and when they get here, they can explain everything to you. How does that sound?" Timmy, a bright boy (despite what his grades said) saw he wasn't going to get any answers out of the woman and simply nodded, reaching for the remote. She gave him a small smile and left.

Timmy spent a couple of hours watching television. Luckily it was afternoon so the after-school shows were on and he happily lost himself in the colourful characters and wacky plots aimed at his age demographic. It was as the screen faded to black on Bikini Bottom that he heard a small knock on his door. He gave out a small 'come in' and the door swung open to reveal a couple, the woman in front. She was young, seeming in her mid twenties and she was short for an adult, around 5 feet, with a pleasantly round face and shining cerulean eyes, but it was her hair that immediately caught attention; a vibrant pink colour held in an elegant swirl. Her unmade-up lips curved into a smile when she saw him and she darted forward, revealing the man behind her. He was taller than her, but still maybe a couple of inches below the average and seemed about the same age. His hair was slightly messy and a rich brown. His eyes were jade green and he bore a goofy grin as he stepped into the room behind his companion. Timmy gaped a little, they were human sized and minus their accoutrements and his hair and her eyes were different colours, but these people were unmistakeable; Cosmo and Wanda, his fairies. Wanda got to his bedside and wrapped her slender arms around him.

"Timmy! You're finally awake!"

"W…Wanda? Cosmo? Why are you guys here, I thought she was calling my parents." He could hear her sigh lightly.

"Boy, that couldn't have been much more bittersweet; you remembered our names, but…well…"

"We weren't originally going to tell you like this. How much do you remember? How well do you remember us?" the ten year old looked at his godfather quizzically.

"We've spent every day together for the last 4 months." He didn't notice the two exchange worried glances. "You guys are the ones who make my life tolerable by granting my wishes." They both blinked.

"Uh…wishes?" Wanda queried, setting off warning bells in his orthodontically prodigious head.

"Yeah…you guys are my fairy godparents, assigned to me because my life was miserable." Wanda shifted her position, sitting on the edge of the bed, Cosmo resting a hand on her shoulder. They both looked several times like they were going to start talking, but nothing came out until Wanda finally got the nerve.

"Timmy…you've been unconscious for 4 months…"

"WHAT?! What are you talking about?!"

"When your…caregivers left you with the babysitter, Victoria Flannigan, she apparently gave you a 'do as I say or else' speech then dropped you, but you landed on your head. She panicked and called 911. You were brought here to St. Eligius Children's Hospital and she started babbling about what happened. When word got out, other kids she'd sat for started coming forward, saying she'd mistreated them while sitting. She's currently got a few months left in her sentence at juvenile hall." Timmy sat silently for a moment, absorbing what she had told him.

"So, I dreamed the last 4 months? Then how do you explain you guys?" Wanda had handled the last one, so Cosmo took over.

"You deserve to know, the people you call mom and dad aren't your parents." Timmy was once again shocked into silence. "You see, your parents messed up a little and you were born while they were still in high school. They weren't ready to take care of a child, so you were given to your mother's big sister and her husband to raise. The quickly drawn out idea was you would be told when you were 15 and would be able to choose for yourself who you stayed with and which name you kept."

"But during this crisis, your mom and dad learned how you had been largely ignored by your guardians. They would choose to spend time away from you too often and lose themselves in too many things to care for a young child, so it's been decided that the timeline on telling you would be moved up. Your parents want you to come and live with them now, they've got their lives in order and are ready to take care of you and give you what you need, but the choice is yours." Timmy's eyes widened in comprehension and his gaze darted between the two and the clues flashed before his mind's eye; his parents continuing to act like carefree singles even though they had a kid, the fact that he didn't really look a thing like either of them, and now this…

"So…you two are…" Wanda stood up and took a step back away from the bed, leaving her a few feet away from Cosmo and both facing him.

"I'm Wanda."

"And I'm Cosmo."

"And we're your…" Timmy subconsciously braced himself for the fireworks, confetti, shouting and big flashing sign to appear. Instead Wanda stepped sideways toward her husband, clasping her hands in front of her with a small smile while he draped an arm around her slim shoulders. "Parents."

"My parents? Why weren't you guys around?" they flinched.

"We thought Mona and Dan could take care of you, and we thought it was best for you to be with people who already had their lives started. We know we messed up, but we still want to leave it up to you. Do you want to stay with the Turners, or come live with us." Her eyes were shining wetly. He thought for a quiet moment.

"I need to think about this." Cosmo sighed, but answered him.

"We understand. We'll be back tomorrow morning." They left the room, Wanda pulling the door closed behind her with a click. With a disheartened sigh she buried her head in his shoulder, messing up her elegant swirl of hair.

"Cosmo, we never should have left him with them. He doesn't even really know us!" he patted her back soothingly.

"I know Wanda, but would anyone have been better off if he'd lived with us and we had to scrounge together money from minimum wage jobs? We were teenagers, we couldn't properly care for him, and in trying to give him the best possible life, we might have messed everything up. All we can do is hope." She pulls back, wiping her eyes quickly and nodding.

"You're right honey. He's our son, and we'll support him no matter what choice he makes…even if it's that he never wants to see us again…" her left hand found his right and they strode out to the parking lot, leaving their son to his thoughts and revelations.

AN: I know the chapters are short and it's not a very good fic, but I'm mostly writing it to kill time at work. I'll try and churn out a few chapters a week, because I have a lot of free time to fill. I'm going to keep this going for a bit, and we'll see how much better things turn out when they're not happening in the mind of a ten year old boy, but rather a 24 year old woman. :P


	3. Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, Decisions

Timmy lay in bed for a long while, staring at the television sets black screen. His body was motionless but his thoughts raced at approximately Super Bike (which he now had to remind himself was apparently a figment of his imagination) speeds.

_More than a few times, I wished Cosmo and Wanda could be my real parents; they paid attention to me, cared about me and always did what was best for me. Now they just drop on me that they ARE my actual parents and Mom and Dad (or is that Aunt Mona and Uncle Dan) aren't. On the other hand they left me to be raised by other people for 10 years. But they seem to care about me. Enough to let someone else take care of me…_

The boy's thought process chased its tail for a while before he groaned and flopped back into the soft pillows. During the afternoon, the heart monitor had been removed and in the absence of its regular beeping, the room was quiet. The only sounds were the murmur of the busy hospital drifting in from the hallway and the other floors. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy and closed as he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw before him a familiar sight; the beautiful buildings and cumulous terrain of Fairy World, admittedly without the constant motion and happy hubbub of its titular denizens. In all his visits to this wondrous place, he had never seen it deserted like this. He looked up and saw the street signs marking his location as the corner of Penn Avenue and Teller Road. He looked around for a minute before he was interrupted by a powerful boom. He turned in the direction of the noise and came face to face with one of the banes of his existence; Jorgen Von Strangle.

"Hello again, Timmy Turner."

"Jorgen! What's going on? I thought everything that's happened over the past few months wasn't real. How are you here?"

"It wasn't, and I'm not. You're very confused right now and your mind needed someone to help you sort things out. In your fantasies I'm the voice of order and control, so I'm here."

"Wow. I didn't know my mind could do that." The buff fairy shrugged.

"Timmy, the choice you make tomorrow will affect your life until you grow up. You need to choose carefully. Your Aunt and Uncle have taken care of you for 10 years, raised you even though you weren't theirs, but they also forgot about and ignored you a little too often. On the other hand, Cosmo and Wanda are figures in your mind that you associate with happiness, who made your life in this fantasy bearable…"

"Despite your best efforts."

"But you have to remember that the man and woman making this offer are different from the fairies who cared for you in your dreams. If you choose to stay with the Turners, your parents will be more present in your life than they have been. There are many angles to be considered."

"Any advice?"

"Timmy, I am a figment of your imagination. I'm part of your mind, any advice from me is actually coming from you anyway. How about this…" the mighty fairy struck the end of his wand-staff to the ground and, with a tremendous BOOM, a pair of signs appeared. The sign on Timmy's left had the pictures of Cosmo and Wanda while the one to the right bore the likeness of the Turners. Next to either sign floated a familiar fairy; Blonda to the left and Juandissimo to the right. "Perhaps this will help you more."

"Maybe, but why these two? He tried to get Cosmo and Wanda taken away from me and she threatened to fire me at you with a cannon."

"That may be, but I am the closest relative to Wanda in your dreams that isn't horribly intimidating."

"And I…jess, why did joo summon me, Yorgen? I hate Teemy Turner."

"Don't ask me, it's his imagination here." A loud, piercing whistle from their host silenced them.

"Thanks guys, you've all been really helpful here. You can all go now." At their dismissal, they disappeared with a poof.

His dream over, Timmy returned to the waking world, eyes fluttering open and a yawn escaping his mouth. He looked to his left to see Cosmo in the chair next to his bed, a Styrofoam cup of coffee in his long fingered hands and a crooked smirk on his face.

"Morning, sport."

"Cosm…er…Dad! Why are you here already. Where's W…Mom?"

"We got here a little while ago, as immediate relatives, we were allowed in as long as we didn't disturb your sleep. Wanda's in the bathroom." As if on cue, the door to the bathroom slid open and the pink haired woman stepped in to the room, drying her hands on her shirt. She made her way over and sat herself down on the bed beside her son's legs.

"I had some time to think about it, and with some help from Jorgen, I've made my decision." The adults leaned in, their full attention on him as though his words carried the secret of life, the universe and everything. "I love mom and…uh, Aunt Mona and Uncle Dan, but you guys are my parents so…I choose you guys. I feel like I should be with my parents, and it's not like I'll never see my aunt and uncle again." Before his eyes, his parents faces lit up and Wanda, his mother, surged forward to encircle him in a hug, followed closely by Cosmo, his father. The young boy allowed himself to be enveloped by the happiness and comfort of the elated embrace.

A couple of minutes later, they broke off and looked at him, eyes twinkling.

"Timmy, we promise you, you won't regret this. We've had a bedroom ready for you for a while now. Cosmo, would you…?"

"I'll go get started with the process of getting him discharged." He flashed her a wide smile and left the room. The two were left looking at one another. Wanda sighed.

"M…mom?"

"It's nothing. This is one of the happiest moments of my life, I'm finally going to have my baby back. I've spent the last 10 years regretting giving you up." Her gaze drifted along his scalp, then back to his eyes. "You've got his hair colour, and my eyes. Oh Timmy!" She enveloped him in a hug again and he simply melted into his mothers arms, feeling confident and safe that a new chapter in his life had begun.


End file.
